KEEP IT GOING: Zoilo Almonte is scheduled to play another game off the bench for the Yankees. Coming off a strong season that put him on the map and on the 40-man, Almonte is off to a fast start in spring training with a hit in every game. He’s slated for Double-A.

SECOND TIME FOR THE FIRST TIME: Alex Rodriguez homered in his first at-bat — on his first swing — yesterday in Tampa. According to the Yankees game notes, Rodriguez also homered in his first spring training at-bat in 2009, though he drew a walk in his first plate appearance.

EARLY SWEEP: The Yankees have won two straight against the Phillies this spring. Today they’re going for a three-game sweep of the “series.”

UPDATE, 1:15 p.m.: A Nick Swisher single is stranded in the top of the first. Now Pineda is on the mound. He seriously looks huge out there. It’s impossible to not notice it. He’s just a big, big man.

UPDATE, 1:18 p.m.: Jimmy Rollins leads off with a single up the middle.

UPDATE, 1:21 p.m.: Surprised the Yankees didn’t get the call there. Looked like a 4-6-3 double play, but the runner was called safe at second. Jayson Nix did a nice job starting it with a little shovel toss to Nunez.

UPDATE, 1:23 p.m.: With no radar gun and a bit of a strange angle in the press box it’s hard to tell changeups for certain, but I think Pineda just threw one to Victorino, then followed it with a fastball that clearly had Victorino’s timing thrown off. He finished off the at-bat with a strikeout.

UPDATE, 1:26 p.m.: Pineda strikes out Thome to end the first inning with Rollins stranded. Felt like he got four outs that inning with the double play ball.

UPDATE, 1:39 p.m.: There’s a quick, efficient inning for Pineda. He got some bad swings from Hunter Pence and Ty Wigginton before Domonic Brown lined out to end the inning. If you were expecting a big guy who can throw a fastball pretty hard, then Pineda met expectations in his debut.

UPDATE, 1:48 p.m.: Dave Robertson jogs to the mound carrying a jacket, which is handed off first to Russell Martin and then to a bat boy to be taken to the bullpen. This is the kind of thing you see in spring training that you never see in the regular season. By the way, Pineda threw 30 pitches, 19 strikes.

UPDATE, 1:57 p.m.: I’m 0-2 on calls at second base today. I thought Martin had Rolling thrown out on a stolen base attempt, but he was called safe. Robertson now pitching with two outs and a runner at second in the third.

UPDATE, 2:00 p.m.: And an RBI single by Polanco puts the Phillies in front 1-0.

UPDATE, 2:08 p.m.: Chavez goes down swinging and it’s still 1-0 after three and a half innings.

UPDATE, 2:15 p.m.: Jim Thome’s a great hitter, but if you’re Cesar Cabral — trying to make the roster as a Rule 5 lefty specialist — Thome’s a guy you need to get out. Instead, Thome crushed a double.

UPDATE, 2:21 p.m.: Scoreless inning for Cabral, but not necessarily a good inning. One hit batter and several balls hit really, really hard.

UPDATE, 2:27 p.m.: Not good. Eduardo Nunez was just hit by a pitch in the right hand — maybe the wrist — and has been pulled from the game for Ramiro Pena.

UPDATE, 2:30 p.m.: Jayson Nix hits a sacrifice fly to tie the game in the fifth, but the status of Nunez is suddenly the most pressing issue for the Yankees today.

UPDATE, 2:40 p.m.: They’re calling it a right hand contusion for Nunez.

UPDATE, 3:25 p.m.: Just got back to the press box from the clubhouse. Nunez can move his hand and said he doesn’t think it’s broken. He was hit in the back of the hand and is going for x-rays right now. Pineda was asked whether he was nervous, and he laughed. “Hell no,” he said.